CD fasting mimicking diet whilst on Chemo

[MartaCiom]

Dear Ladies. I thought about sharing with you Valter Longo's Fasting mimicking diet.

In Jan 2018 I was diagnosed with stage 1a high grade mix ovarian cancer with majnly adenocarcinoma endometrioid component as well as serrous and clear cell carcinoma.

At current i am on Carbo- Taxol regime and yesterday I have completed 2nd cycle. After reading in depth research I believe becoming a guinea pig and try fasting mimicking diet is a right way to go for me. At least i can say i have tried majority of the options available. And oh boy! This one is not the easiest one. I have been on alkaline diet since Jan 2018 and must say all my bloods are excellent up to date. My regime consisted of 1 day - 600cal ( rye bread humus salad veggie juices with meringo, chlorella and spiruline suplements to keep protein intake) 2,3, 4 chemo day 400cal and similar diet. Today feeling good. As after 1st round of chemo intial blocked ears but no sickness and a bit more tired. I was wondering if there are many of you trying the latter and if yes it would be great to share your experience and diet during and in between fasting. I may post my blood results to keep on track on reliability of fasting period and general diet. I gather this is an excellent start may not suit everyone and best to speak to your oncologist if in doubt. I have managed to speak to my nurse (onco would propably say no as most recent Longo's research is in progress) and she was positive big hugs to all brave Ladies!

[tara108]

Hi. Just wanted to say good for you. During and after my 1st chemo I had lots of stomach pain, nausea and vomiting and digestion issues. I had lost alot of weight so couldn't fast. But after a few months, then I started not eating for 14 -16 hrs from 7pm to 12 or 1pm next day. They call it intermittent fasting but I call it skipping breakfast! LOL. Within 10 days all my stomach issues went away. I have kept it up 5 times a week now. Will absolutely fast for 24 hrs when I start chemo again, which is looming!! and drink lots of water etc. Will be interesting to see if it makes a difference but I'm sure it will. Let us know how you go. Sending hugs from Australia.

[MartaCiom in reply to tara108]

Good luck Tara. Hope you dont need chemo ever again. I'm just a great believer that fasting is a solution for loads of health issues. I am healthy weight now but was overweight after my 2nd child for 6months. Even my blood pressure is down and hope to be off atenolol soon. Big hugs from sunne London. X

[27-359]

Hi. If you look through my previous posts, you will see that I tried fasting when Istarted chemo two years ago. I fasted for five days over the infusion period and am sure that it helped with many of the chemo side effects. I have just read the Longo book about intermittent fasting and found it very interesting. I didn't tell my oncologist what I was doing either!

Jenny

[ShazD]

Hi. Long reply! I have been doing a great deal of reading and research into diet and cancer etc. I was advised not to fast before my chemo as I had lost 9 kgs. I was very fit (weekly yoga, gym workouts, aerobics and swimming 2.5 Kms a week prior to diagnosis) and ate no meat only fish but did eat a lot of eggs, cheese and dairy and sugary and processed foods. I was put on a high protein diet prior to chemo and had dreadful stomach pain and bloating. After my first chemo I decided to take control of my own dietary regime and took out all lactose. Result was amazing and also helped with post chemo bowel issues. I starved for 24 hours prior to chemo on 2nd cycle and noticed post chemo side effects were dramatically less. So on 3rd cycle I started starving for 3 days. 1 day prior and the day of chemo and the day after. I also would do a hour and a quarter workout the day before chemo. There is current research being conducted in the US on pts being placed on treadmillls during chemo and the effect it is having and my dietician provided me with info on studies about fasting during chemo. They are small studies but I thought the results were clinically significant and worth a try. I felt completely different and found chemo dramatically easier to cope with. I drank water and herbal tea with one cup of tea with lactose free milk a day. I had a portion of fruit with yoghurt on the first day prior to my workout and then some soup in the evening. Day of chemo was green juice and day after. Issues with bowels were much better( I was admitted to hospital with constipation post first chemo). I have finished my chemo and was able to ski for a week and have also gone onto a animal protein free whole food diet. I have ditched all my painkillers as was in terrible pain with my shoulder on side where my port was and skied for the first time ever without any painkillers for my arthritic knee. It is very hard to make the change but I have adapted quite quickly. The main driving force for me to continue was how dramatically different I felt. I can only describe it as before my diagnosis I felt each day I was walking through glue. The China study explains the link between animal protein and cancer. Maybe not for everyone but it definitely makes sense to me and I feel better for it. I read in a guardian article someone sent me where a woman did a starvation diet during chemo that instead of feeling like a walking zombie corpse she just felt rough and I would agree. I ended up starving each time as the alternative was too bad to even think about. I could not even get out of bed when I ate normally with the chemo. My oncologist advised against starving and my dietician said she had to caution me about it but it was worth it in my case. Re the lifestyle dietary changes... I definitely feel better. My neutrophil and wbc count are down slightly which may be due to diet change as I adjust and work out where all my nutrients are coming from but I definitely feel better.

[27-359 in reply to ShazD]

Funnily enough, I was put onto fasting by that same Guardian article sent to me by my sister!

Jenny

[MartaCiom in reply to ShazD]

Well done Shaz!! Glad to see someone else being being a self inflicted guinea pig😆 but you are doing so well! Im on my 2nd day after chemo and just feeling more dizzy and tired. But yesterday i have spent 3h in the park with kids and was boosting with energy. Green juices are saving me I know that. I use only organic products and it propably made a huge difference as well. Looking forward to your further journey! Big hugs!!x

[Biscuitqueen]

This is so interesting, I'm looking forward to hearing other ladies' experiences with fasting. This seems promising

[ShazD]

I would definitely recommend it. I was very sceptical at first but made chemo so much easier to cope with. It also makes sense that you are starving the cancer cells so they are weakened and allow chemo to target them rather than feeding them. I am off the mindset that I will try anything to increase my chances of survival and that there has to be something about modern life that we are doing wrong if cancer incidence is increasing so dramatically. I have made a complete lifestyle change including looking at stressors in my life and slowing down my busy life but I think the approach to diet is a big factor. The exercise definitely helped me as well.

[MartaCiom in reply to ShazD]

Shaz do you still take your antisickness and steroids after chemo? I am taking it but missed the dose yesterday and didnt feel sick. Would love to try stopping steroids as they are creating acidic environment which feeds the cancer cells.

[ShazD]

Oh no I had Dexamthasone iv as a pre med but refused to take any post chemo. I had akynsia as a pre med for nausea and then had domperidone at home. I took these the day following the chemo for maybe three doses and then tried to manage with ginger tea for nausea. Pharmacists will push for you to take all manner of drugs ( and I am a clinical nurse specialist) and they all compound each other so I tried to keep drugs to a minimum. I took regular senna at night for three nights and my movicol and dicotyl for 4 to 5 days and then just managed on prune juice and panda liquorice from Holland and Barrett. That regime worked fine for me.

[MartaCiom in reply to ShazD]

Thanks a lot. May try as well. X

[ShazD in reply to MartaCiom]

Have you got the Ella app which has really good vegan whole food recipes. I also have the deliciously Ella cookbook and China diet cookbook . The vegan living and lifestyle magazine is also good. There are quite a few good vegan restaurants and cafes around which serve delicious food. I am in London so there are quite a lot but I didn’t realise how great the vegan food actually is. I thought it would just be tofu and lentils.

[MartaCiom in reply to ShazD]

Exactly! I am into vegan ramens at the moment might be dexamethasone causing all the cravings. Thank you for all the tips.

Will review Ella as our vegan menu is recently quite repetitive. I need a change!

Big hugs.x